January 29, 2013

A woman wearing a mask walks amid heavy haze on a winter day in Beijing, China. Beijing's air pollution returns to 'hazardous' levels, two weeks after record readings of small particles in the air sparked a public outcry.

Bodyguards carry Zlatomir Ivanov, center, after he was shot in front of the central court building in downtown Sofia. An unidentified gunman shot and wounded the reputed Bulgarian crime boss, nicknamed 'The Beret', the latest blow to the cener-right government's efforts to to restore the rule of law and improve the Balkan country's image.

The ring-like swirls of dust filling the Andromeda galaxy stand out colorfully in this new image from the Herschel Space Observatory, a European Space Agency mission that receives important NASA participation. (ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech/NHSC)

Guizer Jarl Stephen Grant raises his axe as he gestures to the the other Jarl Squad vikings to start their march around Lerwick on the morning of the Up Helly Aa fire festival in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The festival, introduced by men returning from the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, takes place annually on the last Tuesday of January.